charging

The UK government's Department of Transport has now joined with the U.S. in requiring that passengers on some international flights coming in and out of the country must show that their electronic devices can be powered up, in an effort to improve security.

We use smartphones nearly every minute of every day, and that can be an issue, specifically for batteries. If there’s one area in tech that we haven’t seen any innovation – not for lack of trying – it’s batteries. Sure they’ve grown in size and chipsets have become more power efficient, but for the most part, charging is still charging in 2014.

Zens has a new Qi wireless charger, and this one is for your car. The aptly-named "ZENS Qi Wireless Car Charger" is set to hit markets on April 15th for an eye-melting €69.99 (US$96.54). It's designed to split into your cup holder and has a slot on its top designed to accommodate smartphones with displays up to 5 inches. Blessedly, the vast majority of phones that support Qi charging (both...

The Nexus 4's included inductive charging and Charging Orb got you excited about wireless charging again? We don't blame you. If you'll remember back to the launch of the Samsung Galaxy SIII (S3), Samsung indicated that the device would be compatible with inductive charging backs and chargers. Well that never really happened, and now an ebay seller is taking things into his own hands and...

We talk a lot here about travel because, well, we travel a lot. And in the past few months we've been talking a lot about keeping our phones charged, as more manufacturers are switching to non-removable batteries. And so with meetings on the left coast this week, I've got a new today. That's the Anker Astro2 8400 mAh external battery. It's not small. It's not light. But with that sort of...

On the left is April 10, on the right is April 8 (April 3 is below)
Fun story about the HTC One X battery life. I've seen it be one of the worst performers (thanks to a since-squashed server-side bug), and I've seen it be one of the best. In addition to reviewing phones, we often end up as guinea pigs, using hardware that's barely had time to let the glue dry, or software that's not quite final...

Two words that should never go together -- "charging" and "proprietary." But that might be what we see in the Samsung Galaxy S3 (or Galaxy S III, if you prefer), if a Korean publication is correct. DDaily is reporting that the SGSIII might well have a proprietary inductive charging system -- a la on the now-defunct Palm line of phones (and modded onto a number of Android devices) -- included as...

As launch day approaches, more technical details of Sony's new Xperia S are starting to trickle out. We learned all the key specifications at CES (where we also got some hands-on time with the device), but now two interesting new features of the Sony flagship phone have come to light, according to Swiss tech site PocketPC.ch.
Firstly, the site reports that a Sony Ericsson product manager told...

We're getting a little too excited over this little feature, but it's one we're happy to see on another phone. See those three dots we're circled in Samsung's teaser of what's to come next week at CTIA? Those point to probably contact charging.
That's a feature that never quite took off like we'd hoped. We first saw it on the Nexus One with the desktop dock and car dock, and later on the myTouch...

Since we're talking about keeping your phones charged today, let's give away a pretty cool charging pad. Energizer's wireless inductive charging pad (read our full review here) lets you charge your phone without actually plugging in the phone. OK, you still have to plug in the charging pad, but you gotta get the juice from somewhere, right?To enter to win, just leave a comment on this post. Need...

If you've got an HTC ThunderBolt on Verizon, chances are you spend a lot of time charging the thing. I will never again be plugging in my ThunderBolt, however. Picked up Verizon's wireless charging battery cover for it recently and paired it up with an inductive charging pad -- it uses that newfangled Qi charging system -- and couldn't be happier. Here's how it works: You pop the wireless...

If you fly, you likely know how tough it can be in certain airports to find anywhere to charge your phone and computer. It's 2010, people. It's a little ridiculous. The good news: Delta just announced that it's installing charging stations at 19 airports, including seven domestic hubs. There will be two stations at each gate, with six 110-volt outlets and two USB ports at each station. Airports...

Powermat's wireless charging system has been around for quite some time, but it's relatively new for the Evo 4G. The premise is simple: You replace the stock battery cover on the phone with Powermat's cover, which also plugs into the phone's microUSB port. The phone then rests on a charging mat, which in turn is plugged into an outlet. So all you have to do is pick up the phone and go, no...

WOW! I've seen Lego docks and various phone accessories before, but Android Central Forums member triciaaz's takes the cake for sure. It's clearly a step above and beyond your run-of-the-mill docking station, and triciaaz's HTC Droid Incredible has it's own place to call home. Just promise to be careful watering those flowers triciaaz ;) There's another pic of a view from the side after the...

There it is, folks. The Sprint Evo 4G rewired to work on the Palm Touchstone inductive charger. No more plugging in the phone to keep it juiced -- which with the Evo you tend to have to do a bunch. All it takes is a Touchstone, Palm Pre back cover, a bit of wire and a few simple tools -- oh, and no fear of voiding your Evo warranty. But it may well be worth the risk just to up your Evo cool...

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